Linde / Praxair: Antitrust Implications and Break Prices

Publication Date: January 23, 2018

Research Report Overview

The merger between Linde and Praxair offers alternative investment avenues: some funds are fixated on the ‘back-end’ squeeze-out in Linde, while others focus on the Linde untendered versus tendered share class trade. Many are combining these strategies and mix in a little merger arb. At this stage, we believe that deviating from the strict merger arbitrage situation introduces market-related risks and we refrain from looking beyond the deal at hand. In this research report, we offer our view on whether the merger can clear global antitrust scrutiny, and the implications and break scenarios if it does not.